British Columbia

Transit referendum 'No Transit Tax' side posts $27K donor list

The campaign against the forthcoming Metro Vancouver transit plebiscite has released details of their financial backers — and are calling on the "Yes" campaign to do the same.

'Yes' side in upcoming transit plebiscite challenged to do the same

Voters have until midnight Friday, May 15, to request a ballot asking whether they support a 0.5 per cent sales tax to go towards transit improvements in the region. (Glen Kugelstadt/CBC)

The campaign against the forthcoming Metro Vancouver transit plebiscite has released details of their financial backers — and are calling on the "Yes" campaign to do the same.

In a news release Friday, the No TransLink Tax campaign published the names of all those who have pledged more than $200, for a total amount, as of March 11, of $27,259.30 from 150 donors.

The largest donation — $14,750 — was made by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the non-profit organization backing the "No" campaign.

According to the No TransLink Tax campaign, the mayors' campaign has received $7 million from TransLink and supporting municipalities, but is refusing to disclose how much taxpayers' money is being spent.

"The 'Yes' side is spending so much taxpayer money they can't even provide a full accounting of it," Hamish Marshall, No TransLink Tax campaign manager said in the release.

"Taxpayers deserve to know how precisely much of their money the 'Yes' side is spending, and who else is funding their tax grab campaign."

Next week, voters will start receiving their ballots for the upcoming plebiscite, asking whether they support a 0.5 per cent sales tax to go towards transit improvements in the region.

The ballots will arrive in mailboxes between March 16 and March 27.

Read the full list of donors